Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
What's hot in the city this year?

From the March 24, 2003 Issue of New York

Book a room at the Omni William Penn Hotel (412-281-7100; omnihotels.com), built in 1916. Back in the heyday of U.S. Steel (when Pittsburgh was a more glamorous destination), a night at the grand Penn cost more than the Plaza; today, rates start at just $119.

Have dinner at Isabela (412-431-5882), a prix fixe favorite in Mount Washington, one of the myriad hilly neighborhoods that overlook the city. For $60, you get an eccentric seven-course meal combining the cuisines of Paris, Peking, and Santa Fe. Don’t miss the lump crab-meat soufflé with ancho-chili tomato sauce.

Grab a drink at Gooski’s (412-681-1658) in the Polish Hill neighborhood, which counts a great jukebox, decent pierogi, and sticky floors among its many virtues.

See the Mattress Factory (412-231-3169), a contemporary-art museum in a residential section of town (go before April 30, and you’ll catch the nifty light installations of James Turrell, sure to make you blink purple for a week). And visit the Andy Warhol Museum (412-237-8300; warhol.org), which boasts both a great collection and an endearing pile of personal effects from the Steel City’s favorite son.

Buy a piece of copper wire at Paul Warhola’s Scrap Metals (412-321-2058) as an excuse to see the eccentric studio of Andy’s brother, Paul, and nephew, Marty, who owns the place (and says he could be persuaded to sell a sculpture or two).

Don't miss a walk across a bridge: Since three rivers run through it, Pittsburgh is connected by a series of ravishing bridges (776, to be exact), whose rounded backs echo the topography of the city. And not too far away is Fallingwater (wpconline.org), the Frank Lloyd Wright home that, as the name suggests, is cantilevered over a burbling waterfall (724-329-8501).

-- JENNIFER SENIOR